


A Long Day

by Jammy



Category: Neopets
Genre: Childbirth, Love, M/M, Romance, [mentioned nothing really happens]
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-12-28
Updated: 2016-12-28
Packaged: 2018-09-12 23:22:02
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,879
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9095203
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Jammy/pseuds/Jammy
Summary: Jenner is exhausted from completing two of his contracts, that states the obvious. Though why is Kanrik in such a good mood if he's also struggling to stay awake?





	

**Author's Note:**

> //waves hand// I donno. Just a drabble of sorts with some headcanons of mine and these dogs just talking and being romantic [I can't help being a sap for romantic touches and things]. Also translations for stuff, sorry. 
> 
> _A mhuirnín_ \- darling  
>  _an sceimhle beag_ \- the little terror
> 
> Anyways, enjoy!

It had been a very long day for the both of them, anyone could see that.

 

Jenner doesn’t really accept two contracts in a single day to 'complete' but, well, sometimes he’s just _too nice_ and has to make an exception. The longer part of his day was just the final hours of waiting for the next man to come out so he can dispose of. And when that was all done it was actually his first thought to go see Kanrik. For what reason? Well, he couldn’t really place it either but it felt like a good idea and so he stayed with it. The peculiar part was that he had gone to the Thieves Guild’s hiding spots in search for him but, no avail, actually, the other thieves have told Jenner that none of them had seen him in a few days. There were two more places to search him for and luckily it happened to be the first option, Kanrik was in his small Brightvale studio just in the middle of town.

 

The master thief was just cloaked in fatigue, the proud stature in his shoulders were replaced with a slight slouch and it was obvious that he was trying his best to keep his eyes open, his hair was also a tangled mess [but that was more common then the rest]. Despite all of that however Kanrik smiled brightly when he saw Jenner in his doorway and invited him in, they both ate a very small lunch that consisted of—what Jenner sarcastically called it—a ‘ration’ of bread and cheese each. The assassin knew from his usual dinner or lunch dates with him though, was that Kanrik would only eat this sort of thing if he was truly too tired to cook any of his usual dishes, or in a desperate need of sleep. He felt sorry for him when they talked and just listening to their conversation Jenner could see that Kanrik was fighting against the unknown weight in his eyelids, and still, even when they talked Kanrik was grinning. He...oddly enough, was in a very, very good mood for being so tired. Finally, after they had finished eating the assassin didn’t even ask he swooped the thief up in his arms and carried him to his bed, Kanrik was already barefoot and so after setting him down gently Jenner just sat on the edge of the bed and began to take off his boots and cloak. He was sure that Kanrik would have fallen asleep the moment he was in the comfort of his sheets, but no. The thief rolled over onto his side and watched, that tired smile still on his face as he began to twirl the small curl of Jenner’s tail in between his fingers gently, just, admiring—the strong silhouette in Jenner’s shoulders, the way his hair fell like almost white strands of silk when the assassin untied the scarlet ribbon in his hair, the—he was going to go with presence but is that a little too much? It didn’t matter, he was flattered alone at the mere fact that Jenner decided to make an unexpected visit to his place just after ‘ridding’ someone.

 

“ _A mhuirnín _,__ how was your day?” the thief finally asks in a drawled tone but it sounded delicate and tender, it surprised Jenner honestly, it was—well he guessed because Kanrik had used such an endearing nickname in his mother’s tongue without a snarky tone to try making him feel flustered. The….no, it wasn’t that. It was just his voice was soft enough to sound like a lover’s whisper, not that it meant anything else, no…

 

“Long,” Jenner states, just finally catching a glimpse from his peripheral vision of Kanrik playing with the curl of his tail adoringly and just—watching him—it made him swallow hard. What a silly thing to feel embarrassed over but….wow, it is really hard to stop these deep continuous pounding in his chest, despite looking so tired Kanrik just looks so, relaxed and awestruck. He forces a small laugh to ease his anxiousness and finally kicks off his boots so he can finally put his feet up on the bed, “incredibly long, and tiring.”

 

“You had two contracts today?”

 

“I did.” Kanrik hums in what sounded to be disappointment, when the grey gelert turns to fully face him Kanrik finally lets go of his tail and lets his fingers linger gently over his cheek, he mutters in his mother language a jumbled sentence that sounded almost like: _‘if you overwork, then death shall be your housemate’_. The concern that came with his statement was what made Jenner chuckle, it sounded like the thief was trying to warn him not to do this again. “Kani, if I was overworking on purpose then it would be a little more obvious.”

 

“You mean you wouldn’t visit me.” the assassin is silent for a moment to think over the question but, well, it is the truth. If he truly was overworking or trying to avoid anyone then he would just grab more work than usual and try avoiding that person. Or, he would just...

 

“That’s half of it,” he finally decides to answer turning himself around and laying on his side so that they both can be facing each other, Jenner brings his hand up to move some hair away from Kanrik’s face making the thief breathe a silent sigh, “but unfortunately for me, I just can’t find a good way to avoid you. Overworking or not.”

 

“ _Good_.” he grins smugly but it’s executed poorly, instead of looking so smug the thief instead looks starstruck with those adorning sleepy eyes of his. The thief blinks hurriedly as his friend chuckles in a fit of bubbly laughter, though the wonderful sound alone tickles him to his very core he was also quite curious as to why this assassin was laughing. “What? What’s so funny?”

 

“You, my dear. It’s obvious that you’re incredibly tired today.” Jenner decides to move a little closer so that they are just inches apart now, even if sleepy Kanrik is acting absolutely adorable right now he can’t help but roll his eyes when the thief pouts and also closes in the space in between them, muttering under his breath to ‘give him a kiss then’. He can’t resist, the assassin pretends an aggravated sigh and with the same free hand he lifts Kanrik’s head up by his chin to kiss him on the lips and then on his forehead. “So how many mansions did you steal from today that made you think you deserve all this affection from me?”

 

“None.” Kanrik grins with a hum, he won’t admit it to Jenner but ever since the assassin had shown up at his door he had the biggest urge to kiss those lips of his, if he wasn’t so tired then he could’ve teased his way into it but, well—he would have to settle this for now. Not that he’s complaining. He’s also having the hardest time to stay awake right now because just listening to Jenner’s deep soothing voice is really lulling him to sleep. “I haven’t sto—uh—I didn’t steal anything, not for almost three days. I guess I just feel great because I was working at my other job.”

 

“Your...paintings? Your art?” Jenner asks looking over to the other projects that littered the table and the paintings that were leaning up against the wall and chairs. He sees that there are new art pieces lying around, and it looks like that Kanrik is starting a new project that involves carving into wooden pieces now, at least, that’s what the half carved wooden artifacts next to all the wood shavings and spilled bottles of dry paint looked like. Kanrik shook his head,

 

“Nope and nope.” the thief’s grin gets even brighter, he just looks so proud of himself, “Today I delivered a baby, Jenner.” ‘Oh’ his friend replies slowly, he won’t lie that Kanrik’s other unusual hobby of being a midwife always escaped his mind. Kanrik had told him before a couple of years ago that it was a tradition in his village that the men and boys were taught in delivering babies so if they were to have their own families one day then they can be there for every one of their children. Well, maybe Jenner should be more impressed at the fact that someone actually went to Kanrik _specifically_ to ask him to deliver their child. Kanrik’s smile doesn’t falter as he looks down to play with Jenner’s hand. “It was a girl, a usul—and she was a very stubborn one.” he laughs a little and Jenner laughs softly with him. “It took nine hours for her y’know. I’ve gone longer before but it’s more common in multiples, but wow, you’ll be surprised just how stubborn babies are when they’re angry.”

 

“This child was angry?”

 

“Oh absolutely, right when I caught her she kicked me right in the jaw, that’s how angry she was... _an sceimhle beag_.” Kanrik chuckles some more and stopped suddenly, Jenner remains silent but watches curiously as the thief let’s go just for an instant to wrap his forefinger around Jenner’s, his smile gets even brighter and his eyes begin to glisten. “After I took her a bath to clean her up, I was wrapping her in a new blanket and she just...grabbed my finger with her tiny hand, like this, and refused to let go...I can’t explain it, Jenry it just felt so unreal…so…um.” Kanrik’s sentence begins to slowly fall apart once he saw the changes of emotion behind his friend’s eyes. They didn’t look sad, at least not to him, they were just focusing on their fingers that were still wrapped together, maybe he was marveling at what he said? Or maybe he was thinking about something else. Kanrik soon realizes that this was _Jenner_ he was talking to, and he remembers suddenly at what the assassin has gone through with his wife….and their child.

 

_Gods dammit Kanrik, what the hell were you thinking?_

 

Kanrik laughs again, a little louder hoping that it was enough to snap Jenner out of whatever thought he was having, he wants to change the subject but not have it so painfully obvious that he’s trying to change it. Maybe it’s because he’s tired but that made sense to him at least, he’s going to go on with that idea. “Babies are so… _weird_ , they can literally hate your guts just seconds ago and then they do something like this and you totally forget that they just kicked you in the face and were screaming their little head off….anyways, the mother—who’s a friend of mine in the guild—she’s doing alright after that, exhausted as all hell but, I mean, we _were_ trying to get that hardheaded babe out for almost ten hours. I wasn’t even doing anything and I feel like I need a five day vacation—”

 

“Kani.” the thief stops talking and finally looks up to see that Jenner was still observing their hands, he can’t help but swallow the nervous lump that was in his throat, hoping to the gods that it wasn’t loud enough for the assassin to notice. His expression is oddly unemotional in contrast to his voice which sounds soft and sincere, “You...really want children of your own, don’t you?” Kanrik remains silent, he swore at himself mentally because to be honest, he’s been trying his hardest in avoiding this conversation with Jenner for a few years now. Not because it wasn’t the truth, he loves children to death and he knows that Jenner is just as passionate for them as he is but...he hates to admit a lot of things, but fear is number one on his list. He’s afraid of Jenner losing himself to the past in the middle of a conversation about children, he’s afraid of one of them getting angry if—well—for whatever reason they start arguing on the fact of having children. But maybe the biggest part of the thief was that he was afraid of hurting Jenner unintentionally by talking about children. Kanrik grew up around a lot of children in his village, and even now as an adult they play such a large role in his life—from the orphaned children he will do anything for in the Thieves’ Guild and to many others he encounter outside of it, obviously. It was a tradition in his mother’s culture that when a baby is born then the friends and family visit to help clean the house or cook so the new parents can bond with their child, and it was a tradition on his father’s side that friends and family were both present to watch the child be born. It meant so much to him growing up, so much to him now, that at the mere thought of not having any children of his own makes him feel…strangely empty. “Kanrik?”

 

“I-I’m sorry.” the thief laughs a little, his voice cracking because he’s horrified at the unknown words that are going to come. Jenner is taken aback, he didn’t say anything wrong did he? Why was Kanrik suddenly so...pensive? “I…um…yes.” Kanrik coughs a little to clear his throat and he closes his eyes, it was a nervous habit of his when he was a child and someone was trying to scold him, he’d just close his eyes and pretend that he’s summoning the courage from deep within. At least, the little bit of courage he can muster. “I would like to have children….someday! Someday.” Kanrik finally answers forcing himself to open his eyes because if he continues to have his eyes closed then he’s just going to fall asleep...or maybe, that’s a good idea. It’ll give him a valid reason to just stop the conversation, because he ‘spontaneously’ fell asleep in the middle of it.

 

“I see.” Jenner answers though when Kanrik forces himself to look up a wave of relief crashes over him at the sight of the grey gelert in front of him smiling that lovable snaggletooth grin of his, “It shows, after all.” he said lifting his finger so that Kanrik can see that they are still together, they both laugh a little more together, the uneasy tension finally melting away with whatever worries Kanrik had hiding and Jenner sighs. “I’m proud of you, it sounds like you did a good job today.” he resists the urge to laugh at the irony he suddenly realizes, he: an assassin, takes life away. And Kanrik, when he’s not out stealing, is providing new life by being a midwife. “I was just wondering, because you spoke before about these sort of deliveries and it’s clear to me you care about every single child and mother you helped.”

 

“Yeah, well, like I said. Someday, _a_ _ _mhuirnín__.” the thief mutters closing his eyes again with a large yawn.

 

“How many would you like?” Kanrik’s eyes snapped open and he instantly looked up at the assassin who was still watching him, though his mouth had dropped open all that he could muster was a very quiet but surprised sounding ‘huh?’. “How many children would like? I mean...well, you know...if you could choose to have how many, if any of that jumbled mess made any sense.” it was hard for him not to laugh at Jenner becoming suddenly shy and frustrated about his question, it was...it was sweet, in the assassin’s unusual but somehow comforting way. Kanrik lets his head rest against the pillow again and he sighs, again closing his eyes but not to avoid the question or summon any courage. But because he was finally feeling at ease.

 

“I donno...six, maybe?”

 

“ _Six_ children?” if only the thief’s eyes were open so he could see the utterly shocked expression on his friend’s reddening face, to Jenner’s continuing surprise the thief casually mutters through another yawn that ‘six seems like a good number to stop at’. “My gods, do you honestly think you can keep up to six little ones running around, Kani?”

 

“I mean, you keep up to my pace somehow…I think it’ll be kinda fun, don’t you?” he’s actually impressed with Kanrik’s comeback, he had a point. He was able to ‘put up’ with Kanrik for so many years, but, maybe he’s more impressed with the fact that Kanrik was still thinking of him even when it came to having children...however in the world this thief decides to have children. The curiosity is slowly killing him but it’s obvious from how in a few seconds the thief goes from totally aware of his surroundings to almost melting into his sheets that he just wants to sleep. He deserves it, and much more…

 

“Sounds like an adventure to me.” Jenner whispers leaning over to give Kanrik a soft kiss to his scarred cheek, he gives Kanrik’s finger a small reassuring squeeze before he too closes his eyes and enjoys the soft sounds of the younger gelert’s breathing and the slight bustle of Brightvale’s streets in the afternoon.


End file.
